Genesis 5:24

So, my text is going to be from Genesis, chapter 5, verse 24.

Genesis 5:24

! Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

I am sure most of you might be familiar with Bob Dylan's song, You Are Gonna Serve Somebody.

But it continues, it may be the devil or the Lord, but you are gonna serve somebody.

And I think that the order is important.

Why is that? Because it's always easier to serve the devil, but to serve the Lord, it takes an effort.

Let's take an effort to understand what really means to be called to serve, and to understand whom we are serving.

I'm a foolish ignorant. I still don't know whether my ministry, my serving of the Lord is really good, or done in a proper way.

All what I know, I'm praying that it should be done for the glory of God, and should be done properly.

And I'm still praying, as a foolish ignorant of all, that I might understand whom I am serving.

Now, that's an important point, because just recently I just realized that, I think most of Paul's letters would go like this.

He would praise the congregation, how great you are in love and in faith, and then he goes on.

So I am praying that the eyes of your heart might be open to understand the greatness or the depths of this love.

So he's praising them, that they are exercising love, and then he says, but whoa, I'm desperate for you, because love without wisdom, without the wisdom of the spirit, can go blind, can go astray.

And that's what we take from our everyday experience, don't we?

You have the best intentions, you want to visit somebody who is sick, and you want to say the right words, and it turns out that you say the wrong words.

And you think you are showing love, and after that you even realize, I might have humiliated him instead of comforting him.

That happens, well, maybe not with you, but with me, for sure.

So, what is the difference between what we believe to be prayer, well, what is prayer?

Walking with God, no?

Enoch walked with God.

So, between what we believe to be prayer, and what God believes to be prayer.

People think, when they want to adjust God to their own rhythms, that is prayer.

Come with me, Lord.

Fulfill me with your love.

Fulfill my desires.

They are holy desires, of course.

Come with me.

Bless my service, Lord.

Well, even if we say, I'm doing it for you, I'm doing it for the sake of the kingdom,

but this thinking, may I tell you, has nothing to do with prayer.

I feel judged many, many times.

I think my prayer were not really done well.

Why I'm saying this.

Because when you try to influence and manipulate the being that is much greater and much powerful

than you, that's not prayer.

And in a very nice Christian hypocrisy, we still think that it is.

Prayer is different.

Real prayer is the opposite of what we tend to believe.

God believes that real prayer means to adjust myself to God's rhythm.

God's rhythm.

God's rhythm.

God's rhythm.

Enoch walked with God, and he was not.

For God took him.

Which means, you cannot be in hurry with God.

You cannot speed him up.

If you try, you will be left hurrying alone.

God won't follow you.

We don't read that God walked with Enoch.

We read quite the opposite.

That Enoch walked with God.

Right?

I think that's crucial.

That Enoch was in tune with God's rhythm.

He could catch God's beat.

Moreover, the beat of God's heart.

He moved according to God's drumbeat.

That is why he could be in tune with God.

He could be called a man after God's heart.

He did not want to adjust God to his own drumbeat anymore,

but he adjusted himself to God's.

Do you hear the beat of God's heart?

That is a call to serve.

Do you hear the beat of God's heart?

Called to serve whom you are serving.

If I answered that question in a simple way,

the usual cliche type of answer would be,

yeah, of course,

of course I'm trying to serve him.

Who would doubt that?

But that's a cliche.

The Lord Jesus Christ, of course,

that's my heart is all about.

But the banality of that answer can trick me.

I tend to think I am not serving anybody else save the Lord.

But someone can perhaps deceive themselves by declaring,

I serve the Lord,

yet he or she might not be in step with the drumbeat of God's heart.

Well, there is only two ways here.

Either I adjust myself to his heartbeat,

or I will serve according to my own rhythm

and according to my own melody.

The ego of a Christian,

if it is not crucified,

will dictate his own heart's beat and melody.

The tune of egocentrism.

And we can do a great job

in pretending that we serve the Lord by that.

I hope I am tough enough

with me and with you.

Are you with me?

Or I should be more smooth on this issue?

Well, I'm cluel to myself.

Why should I spare you?

You see, the word of God doesn't matter me.

So,

we read that Enoch,

by walking with God

and not forcing God to walk with him,

disappeared.

Simply disappeared.

Enoch walked with God,

and I like the SIV,

it says that,

and he was not,

for God took him.

He was not.

The drumbeat of the big ego,

the fat ego,

disappeared.

disappeared completely.

For God took him.

Where did God take him?

Come on.

Where did God take him?

Well, there is only one place

between heaven and earth

where our ego can disappear,

and that is the cross of Jesus.

Right?

God took him,

and God takes us to the cross.

There you can vanish.

happily.

Have you,

have you been happy

that your ego vanished?

Vanished completely.

Oh, what a conqueror.

When,

by his cross,

he could

make me to disappear.

And the people

forgot about me.

They were just

marveling

the grace

of Jesus,

and forgot about me.

Right?

Now,

we always,

we tend to say,

Jesus said,

your light

so shine

to the world

that the people

seeing your good deeds

might

praise you.

Am I quoting it right?

No,

they might glorify God.

We try

to make our deeds,

good deeds,

to be seen,

and we,

we are craving

some,

some,

reaction.

I'm very smooth.

But,

it goes to me,

or it goes to him.

God takes us

to the cross.

There,

we can vanish.

As Paul

writes

in Galatians

Galatians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2,

I'm sure you know

that,

verse 20 and 21,

he says,

I have been

crucified

with Christ.

It is no longer

I who live,

but Christ

who lives

in me.

And the life

I now live

in the flesh,

I live by faith

in the Son of God

who loved me

and gave himself

for me.

I do not

nullify

the grace

of God,

concludes Paul.

If he does not

nullify

the grace

of God,

then the grace

of God

will nullify him.

That's

the joy

of the Apostle.

And that is

at stake

with our

proud

ego.

I cannot

nullify

my ego,

I need

God's grace

for that.

And I

nullify

God's grace

if I don't

accept

that I am

dead.

I am

dead

with Jesus

and I am

alive

to God.

This happened

on the cross

and was

sealed

when I was

baptized.

I can't

remember

when I was

baptized,

I was just

a baby.

It doesn't

matter

because God

sent his

son to

accomplish

my

salvation

on the

cross

and

Jesus

forgot to

counsel

me whether

I like

it or not,

whether I

want it or

not.

He did it

without my

consent

and he

did it

gloriously.

baptism

is a

seal of

death.

That it

happened

as in

Romans 6

we read

that we

are dead

with Christ

and we

are resurrected

with him.

So,

Enoch

walked with

God

but God

would not

walk with

anybody.

He has

his own

rhythm

but Enoch

did not

mind

walking

with God

and God

in return

took him

and he

was not.

So simple.

We are

making so

complicated

because we

don't want

to surrender,

we don't

want to

accept that

we are

dead and

dead forever

in Christ.

when it

was the

last time

you were

celebrating

your

dead?

Well,

you can.

If you

are not

rejoicing

that you

are dead

then you

are very

much still

alive.

I mean

your pride,

what you

call yourself.

It's a

false

self-identification.

We are

not our

grown pride.

We are

sons and

daughters

of

God.

And

he takes

me on

the only

place

between,

as I

said,

between

heaven and

earth,

on the

only place

which is

not glorious

at all.

I'm sorry,

the cross

is a dirty

place.

It's not

glorious.

It's full

of blood

and agony.

And

people were

mocking the

one.

who was

crucified

there.

It's not

a comfort

zone.

It goes

against your

comfort zone,

against your

pride,

against your

egocentrism.

And I

call you

there.

I call you,

come with me

there.

For you

have died,

we live in

Colossians,

and your

life is

hidden with

Christ in

God.

That's

possible because

of the

cross.

If I

am

evil,

I go

unnoticed,

and yet

I don't

mind.

You can

test yourself.

I did.

And there

were times

when I

could not

say I

don't

mind.

in fact,

it hurts

me.

I felt

offended.

I didn't

feel

glorious.

well,

if God

calls,

if Jesus

calls somebody

as a

disciple,

he tells

him,

come and

follow me

and die.

I'm

quoting

Bonhoeffer.

I'm not

sure whether

I'm right.

I'm

translating

in my

brain into

English.

So anyway,

but that's

it.

But

there are

too many

visible

servants

and too

many services

to God

which are

in the

spotlight.

That is

not what

we are

called to.

We are

called to

serve

and go

unnoticed.

Your left

hand should

not know

what the

right is

doing.

However,

this service

cannot be

blatant.

It has

to be

hidden.

It has

to be

invisible

rather,

and

let's

look to

Matthew 6

where we

read,

when you

give to

the

needy,

do not

let your

left hand

know what

your right

hand is

doing,

so that

your giving

may be

in secret

and your

father who

sees in

secret

will reward

you.

The

secrecy

and modesty

of our

service

is the

test

whether

I

serve

the

Lord

because

I

am

really

cold

or

I

am

serving

the

Lord

by

self

appointment.

That's

the issue

at stake.

And

we are

taking

the

Lord's

Supper.

So it's

time to

seek

our

hearts.

How

am I

going to

serve

him?

Is it

self

appointment?

If it

is so,

I am

ashamed

by

Hebrews

Hebrews 5:4

5

verse

4

and

5.

No

one

takes

dishonor

for

himself,

but only

when called

by God

just

Aaron

was.

So

also

Christ

did not

exhort

himself

to

be

a

high

priest,

but

was

appointed

by

him

who

said

to

him,

you

are

my

son,

today

I

have

begotten

you.

Real

and

genuine

service,

my dear

brothers

and

sisters,

is

begotten

by

the

father

and

that

makes

us

sons

and

daughters.

Now

I am

in the

west

right

now

and

western

thinking

is

that

I

have

to

build

up

my

identity

by

acting.

And

once

I

acted

well

I

became

somebody.

So

acting

first

and then

being

next.

But

in my

Bible

we see

the other

way

around.

At

least

being

comes

before

doing.

Being

comes

before

acting.

And

you

have

to

become

first

a

son

or

a

daughter

to

God

and

not

a

servant

to

God.

Right?

There

is only

two

types

of

Christians.

I

don't

know

if I

am

allowed

to

call

Christians

the

second

type.

But

the

first

type

is

that

you

first

you

are

born

from

above

as

a

son.

You

have

got

the

spirit

of

sonship

and

then

you

act.

The

false

Christianity

is

that I

try to

act

and work

and do

something

in order

to be

accepted

by God

that God

might

favor me

and might

forgive me

and then

I

become

somebody.

False.

Completely

false.

And

somehow

the

tendency

in this

age

post

modern

age

can

penetrate

even

into

the

church

into

the

mindset

of

a

Christian

today.

We

are

so

much

self

made

men

that

we

want

to

act

in

order

to

become

somebody

whereas

Enoch

just

simply

walked

with

God.

Well

we

need

to be

put to

death

with

Christ

and

to

be

resurrected

with

him

as I

said

before.

What

can

produce

this

life

giving

death?

The

question

occurs

how

that

change

can

be

taken

place.

Right?

How

that

change

can

be

produced

in

our

lives?

Well

if you

ask me

that

question

my

answer

would

be

that

it

is

with

the

love

of

Christ.

The

passionate

love

of

Christ

which

alone

is

compared

to

death

in

your

scripture.

The

Song

of

Solomon

right?

Oh

what a

romantic

love.

Oh

we are

very

sentimental

about

this

but

all

the

sentimentality

disappears

when you

hear that

it's

tough

like

death.

Right?

Because

it says

love

is

strong

as

death.

Against

whom

does

death

show

its

power?

Against

the

one

whom

death

carries

off.

can

you

help

yourself

against

that?

No.

It

will

carry

you

off.

Right?

Now

if I

want to

see my

lover's

love

proved

strong

I need

to feel

I am

carried

off

by that

love.

to be

taken

away

to be

swept

away

without

being

able

to

resist

is

both

the

metaphor

of

passionate

love

and

of

death.

So

love

is

there

is

united

in the

mindset

of

God.

So

he

kills

your

ego

and

your

egocentrism

in order

that this

passionate

love

might

work

in you

and

through

you.

Well

somewhere

somebody

said

no one

is

indispensable

everyone

is

irreplaceable.

God's

call

to you

is a

particular

ministry

whether

former

or

informal

in

whatever

area

of

life

or

work

be

you

an

accountant

or

an

elder

in

a

church

or

even

a

parent

or

a

pastor

doesn't

really

matter

this

makes

you

irreplaceable

until

you have

fulfilled

that

call.

You

see

the

whole

world

is

longing

to

be

unique.

Every

human

being

wants

to

be

unique.

But

real

uniqueness

consists

on the

fact

that

you

cannot

be

replaced.

And

that's

your

calling.

The

nose

cannot

tell

the

ear

I

don't

need

you.

So

the

ear

is

irreplaceable.

The

nose

is

irreplaceable.

Right?

Along

the line

of the

Paulian

understanding

of the

body

of Christ.

Christ.

Now

even

when you

are

irreplaceable

you can

have

the

role

of

always

replacing

Jesus.

That's

amazing.

Right?

The

call to

serve

means you

can be

a

Jesus

to

others.

In

order to

protect

the

dignity

of

every

single

Christian

how

can

you

replace

Jesus?

First

of all

look at

Jesus.

He could

replace

the

Christians

with

himself.

Right?

That

was

all

redemption

that was

redemption

all about.

He's

dead

he stood

in

your

place.

He

suffered

in your

place.

That

makes

you

irreplaceable

that he

replaced

himself

with

you.

So

that's

funny.

That's

funny.

Either

mistaken

grammar

or love.

Because

a

chap

called

Paul

was

running

on

well

he was

riding

a horse

of course

on the

road

to

Damascus

and

all of

a sudden

Jesus

appeared

to him.

Now

they

never

met

before.

And

who

you

are

and

then

Jesus

introduces

himself

why

are

you

persecuting

me?

Now

that was

a

mistaken

grammar.

He

should

have

said

mine

my

flock.

But

he

said

me.

Paul

could

have

answered

I

never

persecuted

you

we

never

met.

But

Jesus

replaced

so much

himself

with

his

own

flock

that

he

said

I

identify

myself

with

my

own

flock.

So

if you

persecute

a lamb

you are

persecuting

me.

Identification

in love

or

mistaken

grammar

you

decide

now.

But

look at

the letter

of Paul

to Philemon.

That's a

wonderful letter.

I

used to

read a

lot.

I can't

I'm

still

full of

joy

when I

read it.

Because

Paul

told

Philemon

here is

Onesimus

his name

means

a useful

guy

right?

And he

became

useless

to you

but

I

talked

to him

he

came

to

Christ

and

now

I

send

you

back

because

he

is

Onesimus

again

he is

useful

again.

But

Paul

would say

that

the

once

wandering

away

thief

slave

who robbed

you

should be

received

and treated

as he

would be

me

as he

would be

the

apostle

Paul

because

in verse

10

he says

I

appeal

for

my

son

Onesimus

in verse

12

I am

sending

him

who

is

my

very

heart

back

to

you.

What

kind

of heart

this

Paul

had?

A

useless

slave.

And

then he

goes on

in verse

17

so if

you

consider

me

a

partner

welcome

him

as

you

would

welcome

me.

Right?

So

is that

not the

same

what

Jesus

said?

Whoever

will

listen

to

your

words

or

will

receive

you

will

not

receive

you

but

will

receive

the

one

who

sent

you.

Will

receive

the

son

but

those

who

receive

the

son

will

not

receive

the

son

but

the

father

who

sent

the

son.

Now

love

has to

tackle

with

this

kind

of

approach.

Onesimus

is a

Paul

to

Philemon

and

nothing

less.

See

the

dignity

of

Onesimus

the

restored

dignity

of

Onesimus

he

is

an

apostle

to

Philemon

and

Onesimus

should

be

a

Philemon

to

Paul

too.

It

works

both

ways.

So

I

I'm

a

wretched

sinner

and

I

am

of

no

use

and

only

God

and

my

wife

knows

who

I

am

how

bad

I

am

and

yes

you

received

me

and

you

received

us

as

we

would

be

the

apostle

Paul

no

just

some

poor

guys

from

Romania

but

still

with

a lot

of

love

and

respect

you

treated

us

but

that's

why

I'm

here

for

I

want

to

convey

the

greetings

of

the

Christians

from

my

country

who

are

praying

for

the

ministry

among

the

Levites

and

I

want

you

to

be

in

touch

with

them

and

them

to

be

in

touch

with

you

because

they

are

an

apostle

to

you

and

you

are

an

apostle

to

them

see

the

point

your

value

is

equal

with

the

value

of

the

Son

of

God

that

is

redemption

is

full

restoration

that

is

sun

shape

that

is

a

holy

replaceability

of

Jesus

for

an

irreplaceable

human

being

which

really

makes

that

person

irreplaceable

although

not

indispensable

and

that's

the

human

in

it

right

because

you

cannot

think

too

high

of

yourself

you

are

not

indispensable

but

until

you

are

following

the

call

in

a

particular

service

and

before

you

don't

fulfill

that

you

are

irreplaceable

in

that

so

everybody

is

important

in

God's

service

oh

I

have

to

conclude

now

yeah

I

have

to

be

only

30

minutes

so

I

give

you

a

story

at

the

end

of

my

message

a

traveler

once

entered

an

inn

the

innkeeper

came to

his

table

and

sat

while

his

guest

was

taking

his

dinner

the

host

somehow

felt

safe

during

the

discussion

so

he

started

to

open

up

himself

to

the

innkeeper

and

he

started

to

pour

out

his

burden

he

told

his

guest

how

wretched

he

was

he

felt

compelled

to

confess

his

sins

he

was

not

too

much

repentant

but

he

still

talked

about

what

he

did

after

a

long

evening

!

guest

is

crying

to

God

and

he

is

telling

God

all

the

sins

what

he

heard

from

the

innkeeper

but

telling

God

that

these

are

his

sins

and

begging

for

forgiveness

the

innkeeper

amazed

by

this

replacement

marveling

at

such

an

amazing

love

was

touched

deeply

and

he

repented

see

how

can

we

serve

serving

God

means

following

Jesus

as we

read

about

these

apostles

wherever

he

goes

right

wherever

he

goes

love

means

that

I

replace

myself

with

those

whom

I

love

on

any

coast

I

leave

behind

anything

and

anybody

and

that's

how

I

paradoxically

become

irreplaceable

and

this